Cover of Night
by Yithril
Summary: Just when L thought he had made some headway in the Kira case after the second Kira comes out, a new group called the Obsidian Order appears. What are the goals of the order, and why do they target Kira?
1. Fuseki

L was starting to develop a pounding migraine headache, the likes of which he had never experienced before. He sipped some more of his umeboshi and hot water mixture to try and relieve the headache, but could not wait for Watari to return with some Tylenol. Luckily Matsuda-san wasn't around to try and start up another one of his inane conversations, "or else", thought L, "I couldn't be held accountable for my actions". As thankful as L was to have an investigative team, he quietly wished he could have been given someone more discreet (and most important of all _silent_) as a member of his team than Matsuda-san. Before L could let out a sigh, Watari emerged from the door in L's makeshift headquarters at a hotel, carrying a shopping bag. L was alone in the room, sitting in his own special way on a chair in the middle of the room.

"I hope this helps," said Watari taking out the bottle of pain medication and laying it in front of L.

"I do as well, I haven't had one this bad in ages," breathed L slightly under his breath as he crept forward to take the bottle, clasping it with his thumb and forefinger in the trademark L manner. Dangling each pill above his head and allowing them to fall in his waiting mouth, L leaned back and closed his eyes to try and collect his thoughts. Nothing had been making sense the past few days. The first Kira was a handful in and of himself, but now there was a second Kira to top it all off. The fiasco at Sakura TV proved just how dire the situation was getting, and L was starting to get a little impatient. People were dying and it had to be stopped.

"Unlike the past Kira, this one seems to be completely fine with killing completely innocent people. Luckily this Kira doesn't seem to be quite as sharp as the last one; he even left us a clue to follow him all the way to Aoyama. I don't know how but I'm sure the two Kira's plan to meet each other. If they do come together…I truly fear what could happen…"

L found his mind wandering back to the Sakura TV incident, where he watched the debacle unfold on TV along with possibly the entire world. Poor Ukita was the first to go, and then the two unfortunate officers who had the bad luck of being sent to the scene. "However we learned one important thing," thought L as he sipped on his drink, "that the second Kira doesn't need a name to kill, just a face. It seems the first Kira lacks this ability, and I shudder to think of what would happen if the two combined powers."

Just when L was really starting to become ensconced in his own inner world, he heard Matsuda's dreaded voice echoing down the hallway. Watari nodded to L and made his way out of the room. The investigative team had arrived, with Matsuda and Light appearing first, soon flanked by Soichiro Yagami and Aizawa.

"Your friends are really great Light! I think what's her face…Keiko was it right? Yeah she always seemed to find these little ways of talking to me and…" yammered Matsuda like an attention starved puppy. L couldn't help but notice that Light had the most bored look on his face, as if Matsuda's ever word sapped away any mental energy it could find.

"I hope your trip to Aoyama resulted in more than you honing your flirting skills?" dryly asked L, his monotone voice barely concealing the sarcasm.

Matsuda looked up and seemed to be caught off guard as he scratched the back of his hand and laughed. Ignoring his comrade, Light sat himself down across from L.

"Nothing really, as far as I could tell. If the two Kira's met in Aoyama we certainly weren't able to find them out," remarked Light.

When Light spoke it always triggered some alarm in the back of L's mind, always renewing his suspicion that Light was in fact Kira. Sure, the official percentage for Light being Kira was hovering around five percent, but in reality L would stake his entire representation on it. Logic was always L's personal code, an ethic he adhered to almost religiously if such a word could be applied. However, in this case, L's gut cried out the name of the guilty, whether L could prove it by logic or not. He didn't believe in miracles, but L wouldn't mind being able to catch Light tripping up at a crucial juncture, allowing him to swoop in and catch the man he knew instinctively to be Kira. "Patience is a virtue….I guess," thought L to himself as he continued to listen to Light.

"I really am at a loss for what our next move should be. I'm sure of one thing though…" remarked Light as he looked out the window. L sometimes couldn't help but admire the deep intelligence in Light's gaze, especially when he really focused his mind on a task.

"What is that son?" piped in Soichirou.

"I'm sure we can use the second Kira to our advantage somehow."

"Spoken like a true Kira," thought L, taking another sip of his drink and looking straight at Light.

"I don't see how! Man, it never seems like we get anywhere," whined Matsuda dejectedly slumping in his chair.

"What is your idea Light-kun?" asked L, curious at to how the young genius might answer. L had his own plan to carry out, but it was always a treat to watch Light come up with an equally genius plan.

"Well it depends on what assumptions we proceed." Light stood up and walked over to the window to look out over the cityscape. It was turning into evening, and the bright lights of Tokyo were starting to shine. "If we presume that the two Kira's have somehow met up we have to find someway to lure them out into the open. I'm sure that the first Kira has somehow taken charge, at least that's what I would expect…"

"I as well, Light" thought L as he finished his tea and fished in his pockets for anything sugary and finding a small package of chocolate flavored koala yummies.

"What ... makes you say that?" asked Matsuda confused.

"Given the personalities of the two Kira's, the second Kira would most definitely take the subordinate role in any circumstance. You can't have two Kira's vying for power, and the second one seems to worship the first," replied L.

Light rubbed his hands together and looked downward, the gears in his brain going at full blast. "If our first assumption is wrong, then the first Kira didn't show up to the meeting because he probably thought it would be too high profile. They could have met in person or at the very least identified each other by their "Gods of Death". There is no way for us to know what "we'll show each other our Gods of Death" means, but that must indicate some kind of "Kira only" slang."

"That much is clear Light, but go on I think I know where you are proceeding with all this," replied L, downing another handful of koala treats.

"Well I was wondering if we couldn't use that to our advantage?" Light began to perk up a bit, his hands coming alive as he gestured to demonstrate his point. Light could be so clear and forceful, people seemed to naturally react to his natural confidence and demeanor. L was a little jealous at heart. He never had that effect on people.

"Possibly send out a little message of our own?" quipped L, intrigued by the idea.

"What could it hurt? If the two have met then the message would be meaningless of course, since I'm sure they would find some way of communicating with each other. If not, then we might confuse the second Kira into showing up at a certain place," chimed in Light, his gaze locked in with L's.

Soichiro and Aizawa simply nodded their heads with a "mmm" to show their agreement, while Matsuda was as usual, completely lost.

"In the end, though, I have to disagree Light," chimed in L, breaking up the fun. "I can't imagine the second Kira would be silly enough to come to a second meeting so soon after the first one, that is assuming they haven't met…"

"You might want to check the television sir," said Watari as he entered the room, turning on the TV with the remote. A stylized "Kira" was written on the screen, indicating another message.

"Thank you everyone at the TV station and the police station. I have found Kira!" chimed the mechanical garbled voice of the second Kira.

L instinctively tried to scan Light's expression and body language for any reaction. Certainly the real Kira would be on edge already at the appearance of a second Kira. "Especially when the second Kira is as blatantly foolish as this," thought L. As usual, Light reacted and behaved in the most unsuspicious manner possible, which deepened L's convictions.

"Well that answers one of our questions," remarked Soichirou as he began to pace the room.

"Well at the very least we can ascertain that one Kira knows the other. It is clear from the usage of the word "found" as opposed to "met" that the two still don't know each other," said L, a slight sign of relief in his voice. "There's still time," he thought.

"Well now that we know the second Kira knows who the first is, we can therefore assume they will figure out some secure way of communicating with each other. Confusing the second one out of hiding is not in the cards right now. With so much publicity surrounding the second Kira, I'm sure Kira #1 will want to lay low for a bit so as not to attract any undue attention," replied L as he raised a finger to his mouth.

"Agreed," firmly replied Light.

"That having been said, trying to send a fake message would simply result in the first Kira laughing at us." L finished off his last koala yummy, deftly tossing it into his mouth and enjoying the smooth chocolate taste.

"That...is right, they'd know our message wasn't real..." said Aizawa.

"Well we're back at square one I guess, any ideas?" sighed Matsuda rubbing his temples.

"What's this?" said Soichirou as he was about to turn the television off. The news was still broadcasting the Kira message, when the signal was disrupted and switched to a new image.

"Another special broadcast?" said Matsuda.

"What is it now…" thought L as he looked towards the TV. "Is someone controlling this broadcast?" he thought as he lifted a thumb to his lips. The entire investigative team turned their full attention to the television screen. The screen went black a moment, and then an image of an eight pointed star with a pyramid in the center was displayed on the screen.

"This is a special broadcast of the Obsidian Order. There is nothing wrong with your television sets, we have taken over this broadcast," rang a garbled mechanical voice.

"Obsidian...Order? What madness is this?" thought L as his mind raced to figure out what was going on.


	2. Furikawari

The screen stayed focus on the strange image, and the investigation team waited with baited breath for the message to continue. A few moments later a deep, mechanical voice boomed from the set.

"The world has been plunged into chaos over the emergence of an entity named "Kira". He presents himself as righteous and just, bringing peace into an otherwise chaotic world. However we here at the order have been investigating Kira closely and have revealed him to be a serial murder, nothing more, nothing less. Many innocent victims have fallen at the hands of Kira."

L raised an eyebrow as he placed his thumb to his lips. His body was rather tense, mental energy running up and down his spine.

"If what they say is true then maybe I haven't done a thorough enough investigation. Kira has only targeted criminals thus far, save for the fiasco at Sakura TV. Because he can kill his victims from afar he's always seemed semi-omnipotent, at the very least far more powerful than a normal human. But then again he would be a person after all…" thought L as he focused on the broadcast. The mechanical voice continued with its message.

"This is a picture of Tasuki Iwamoto, an alleged rapist and murderer. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Japanese government, and later executed by Kira. We have investigated this case further, and Iwamoto was later proven innocent after a false witness and improper evidence handling were brought to light." A hush went over the investigation team, as everyone except Matsuda was taking in the implications.

"Do you see? Kira killed an innocent man in the name of justice. He is no omniscient harbinger of justice! Instead he is a loathsome, vile murderer who must be found and destroyed. How many other innocent men and women have been preyed upon by Kira? If you do not believe us visit our web site and check the evidence for yourself. We vow on this day, Kira, that we will track you down and destroy you. We also have a message to the one known as L. Do not stand in our way, though our goals might be the same we find your lack of results incompetent and will take matters into our own hands. Heed our warning and do not interfere. That is all."

The image stayed on the screen for a few more moments, and immediately flipped back to Sakura TV. The anchors finally realized they were back on the air, and tried to soothe the public over the strange occurrence. Light and L immediately sent their minds to work.

"Obsidian Order? This has got to be some kind of practical joke," whined Matsuda as he slumped back into the sofa exasperated.

"Do you think threatening Kira is a joke, Matsuda-san?" dryly retorted L.

Matsuda fumbled to try and reply but as usual was stymied in his own inability to logically reason. L let out a small sigh and returned to the matter at hand.

"What do you think Ryuuzaki?" Light lifted his head and stared straight into L's eye. Light had the most piercing gaze of anyone L had ever known. It seemed to send feelers into ones mind, grabbing for any piece of information it could find that could prove to be of any advantage.

"Well of course I think we need to investigate the Orders allegations before we proceed any further."

"But they gave us a website that would outline their evidence…" responded Aizawa.

"We still have to check with our own eyes. There is no room for assumption here. The ramifications are too great," quipped Light as he stood up and began to pace the room.

"Light-kun is of course, correct. Besides, if what the Order says is true then we have to wonder how Kira is going to act. Given the personality profile I've compiled of him I can only imagine the ethical conflict he must be having at the moment."

"Ethical conflict? Kira is a murderer, he doesn't have ethics!" boomed Soichirou. The man really could overpower a room when his emotions took hold.

"On the contrary, Kira believes himself to be pure good and the criminals he punishes pure evil. Anyone who thinks in such monolithically black and white terms would crumble at the thought that they weren't truly righteous. At any rate, I have never heard anything about this Obsidian Order, but possibly researching information on ancient cults will prove useful. I hope everyone in the investigation team realizes that with a new player in the game comes new dangers," elucidated L as he grabbed a box of green tea pocky off the table and began to wolf them down one by one.

"Yes we will have to be even more cautious from now on won't we? Kira was only one person but now we are possibly dealing with a group of people." L turned around to the investigation team and scanned their faces one by one.

"I think the precautions we've taken against Kira so far are good enough to keep the "Obsidian Order" off of our trail, but we can never be too careful. From now on we will be moving headquarters every three days. I also advise each of you to be extra observant of those around you." The investigative team nodded in agreement except for Light, who seemed to be lost in his own little world. L hunched down and looked straight into Light's face, his buggy eyes meeting Light's.

"A penny for Light-kun's thoughts?"

"It is curious they have decided to leave L out of the investigation. Either they're overconfident and don't realize the difficulty of catching a psychic killer, or have a serious grudge against L. Catching Kira may not be their only goal then. If they were truly altruistic about catching Kira, then it would make sense to combine forces rather than act on their own."

"Of course Light-kun, which logically leads us to conclude..."

"Despite the fact they do not want L to intercede in their hunt against Kira, by simply saying so, they admit to wanting to catch L."

"I'm … sorry son I don't follow?" Soichirou often had a hard time following L and Light once they started to reason. It was difficult for him to realize that his son was much smarter than he was.

"Well Dad, there is no way L can stay out of the investigation and simply let the Order handle everything by themselves right? What investigator you know would just quit a case like this at the whim of someone he doesn't know?" replied Light turning around and meeting his fathers gaze.

"Right…of course," said Soichirou

"Well, then they must know L will continue and eventually their paths will cross. That will be there chance to get L. The other explanation would be…" Light turned to L, allowing the world famous detective to add his two cents.

"…that they want to challenge L to a battle of wits with Kira as the prize. Kira must have something the Order wants and they are willing to throw down the gauntlet and race for it against L. Letting him know must give them some sort of advantage otherwise they wouldn't have said anything at all. How interesting…"

"Let's get a list going on the innocent victims Kira killed and try to do a little investigation of our own. I think it would be a bit dangerous to do it under the auspices of the Japanese police. Who knows where the Order has operatives."

"Sound reasoning, Light-kun. I'll ask L if he can procure some ID as CIA agents and we'll get underway immediately." The investigative team nodded and got up to leave. L followed Light through his periphery vision, scanning the young man for even a slight hint that the recent events had some effect. When everyone had left L went back to his comfy sofa and looked out the window at the cityscape of Tokyo. Watari appeared from the back room and stood by L's side. He laid another package of green tea pocky on the table next to L. Lifting the box and tearing open the package, the young detective licked the semi sweet coating and enjoyed the crunch of each stick.

"Watari, I hope it won't be too much trouble to work a little magic with some CIA ID's. We're going to do a lot of leg work for this one, and it makes me nervous. Too much exposure."

"I'll handle everything. I think you just need to concentrate on your next step. A lot has happened within the last few hours and you need to maintain your focus."

L looked up at Watari and was never in his life more thankful for him. Looking back out the window, L's introverted nature showed through and his mind sunk back into a world of thought.

"Undoubtedly the Order is no friend, but there is no way to ascertain how powerful this new enemy is. They clearly have someone who is very technical, as they were able to override the broadcast at Sakura TV, which must take equipment and sophisticated training. Well if they want to draw me out then so be it, I don't mind a head on battle. But I'm not going to do this by their terms at all. Which still leaves me with Kira. I can only imagine what he must be going through now…"

L felt, for just a fleeting moment, that the investigation was going to take a turn for the worst.


End file.
